1. Technical Field
One or more embodiments of the present application relate to a crash sensor system and method that may be used to determine when a vehicle is involved in a frontal impact crash.
2. Background Art
In 1978 the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began crash-testing vehicles sold throughout the United States. The crash-test protocol involved running the vehicles head-on into a fixed barrier at 35 M.P.H. Under the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), the results of these crash-tests were published for consumers to review under what is commonly referred to as the NHTSA star rating scale. The NHTSA star rating scale informs a consumer as to how the vehicle performed using a five star scale. For example, a NHTSA five (5) star rating would be recommended if the test-results indicated that an occupant of the vehicle had less than a ten percent (10%) chance of suffering a life-threatening injury. Conversely, a NHTSA one (1) star rating would be recommended if the test-results indicated that the occupant of the vehicle had more than a forty-five percent (45%) chance of suffering a life-threatening injury.
As such, consumers have been increasingly basing a portion of their vehicle purchase upon the published NHTSA star rating scale. The consumers may tend to avoid vehicles that fall within the lower star rating (e.g., 1-2 stars) and may base a purchase on a vehicle with a high star rating (e.g., 3-4 stars).
In response to the NHTSA star rating scale, vehicle manufacturers have continually worked to improve the crash sensing technologies (i.e., crash sensor systems). These crash sensor systems operate to continually monitor and generate vehicle crash signals. A controller receiving the crash signals makes a determination whether the vehicle has been involved in a front impact, side impact or roll-over crash. Based upon the type of crash, the controller signals that a particular safety restraint system be deployed.
For example, based upon the crash signals received, if the controller determines that the vehicle has been involved in a frontal impact crash, a pair of frontal air bags may be deployed. Likewise, if the controller determines the vehicle has been involved in a side impact crash, a pair of side curtain air bags may be deployed. However, current frontal crash sensor systems typically include some latent time delay between the occurrence of the frontal impact crash and the deployment of the frontal safety restraint system.